Vehicle wheel alignment data by rotating vision sensor

ABSTRACT

A device and method for measuring vehicle wheel alignment characteristics, and in particular measuring wheel camber and toe, uses a rotating vision sensor such as a laser sensor to map a portion of the vehicle tire and/or rim, allowing for the determination of wheel camber and toe without rotating the wheel. The sensor may be repositioned between the rear and front vehicle wheels. A separate sensor may be used for the left and the right vehicle wheels. The invention has particular utility for auditing of the alignment of vehicles in production lines. The devices and methods may also be used for more general imaging purposes.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/122,503, filed on Jul.24, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,562.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of measuring vehicle wheel alignment,and in particular measuring wheel camber and toe. The invention uses arotating vision sensor such as a laser sensor to map a portion of thevehicle tire and/or rim, which allows for the determination of wheelcamber and toe without rotating the wheel. The invention has particularutility for auditing wheel alignment of vehicles through a productionline. The invention also relates to the field of computer vision.

BACKGROUND

Correct vehicle suspension and geometry improves the directionalstability, tracking, cornering, and overall driveability of a vehiclewhile also increasing tire tread life and wear. Two primary vehiclewheel alignment characteristics are toe, which is generally defined asthe slanting of the wheels toward the front or back of the vehicle, andcamber, which is generally defined as the sloping of the wheels towardthe top or bottom of the vehicle.

Different vehicle models are designed to be manufactured with differentwheel geometries to optimize certain performance characteristics. Evenversions of the same model may be manufactured with different wheelgeometries, so as to optimize vehicle performance for the drivingconditions typically encountered in a particular locality. So, analigner should be able to measure the characteristics of vehicles havingmany different settings.

While several different measurement techniques are currently employed,the accurate measurement of wheel alignment is a surprisingly difficultproblem to solve in a cost and time efficient manner. In a typicalmanufacturing process, the wheel alignment is measured in all vehiclesas a part of the manufacturing process, and the wheel alignment of arelatively small percentage of vehicles, such as 4%, is measured asecond time as an audit for determining the accuracy of the aligner usedin the manufacturing process.

It would be desirable to audit a higher percentage of vehicles, so thatthe accuracy of the alignment process could be improved. However, theaudit time of current alignment audit equipment is such that asignificantly higher audit rate is not viable. Typical auditing devicescurrently in use are quite slow, and so cannot keep pace with aproduction line. So, for example, if one hundred cars are produced in aproduction line in a given period of time, only four cars may be able tobe audited in that given period of time, to obtain a 4% auditpercentage. While it may be possible to add more auditing devices toincrease the audit percentage, the cost of so doing may be prohibitive.

In light of the above, it can be appreciated that an alignment systemthat is less expensive, quicker, and more accurate than known systems isa significant advance in the art. Manufacturers may be expected to saveon warranty repairs, and vehicle owners may be relieved of the burden ofpurchasing a new vehicle that is not correctly aligned.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,515 of Merrill et al., owned commonly with thepresent invention, teaches a measurement system that combines ageometric wheel aligner with a dynamic wheel aligner, and so provides auseful reference of prior wheel alignment techniques. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/700,766 of Chapin et al., owned commonly withthe present invention, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,872,256, teaches a visionsystem for wheel alignment using moving vision sensors. The movingsensors are described as translating vertically up and down and thenside to side to “paint” a target.

Each of the documents referred to herein are hereby incorporated byreference to the extent they include information helpful to a properunderstanding of the present invention. It should be understood that nodocuments or descriptions herein are admitted to be “prior art,” but areonly mentioned to place the invention in context and to assist in aproper understanding of the invention.

SUMMARY

Devices and methods to characterize the alignment of a vehiclewheel/tire are disclosed.

In an embodiment, a device includes a vision sensor, such as a lasercamera, capable of determining spatial coordinates of a group of pixelswithin a field of vision. The sensor is rotatable to scribe a torus inspace, and the device is positioned so that at least a section of thevehicle wheel/tire is within the torus. The sensor thus obtains acollection of spatial coordinates of the wheel/tire, preferablyassociated with the rotational position of the sensor as it collects thedata. A computer calculates the wheel/tire toe, camber, or both from theobtained data. The sensor can be rotated multiple times and thecollected data averaged for improved accuracy.

The device preferably includes a vertical support and a blade rotatablymounted on the support. The vision sensor is mounted toward one end ofthe blade, and a counterweight is mounted toward the other end of theblade.

Another embodiment of the invention uses two devices substantially asdescribed above to characterize the four wheel/tires of a vehicle. Oneof the devices characterizes the left wheel/tires (front and rear), andthe other characterizes the right wheel/tires (front and rear). Each ofthe two devices slides along a track between the front and rear of thevehicle. The sensor can determine the position of the device byinterpreting imaging data as corresponding to a wheel/tire, and inparticular to a wheel rim. This embodiment does not strictly requireboth a left and right device—only one vehicle side could be imaged.

Yet another embodiment combines a device substantially described abovein conjunction with another wheel alignment device that is known in theart, such as geometric, dynamic, or “kinetic” aligner. This allows forthe advantages provided by the present invention to be combined withadvantages provided by known aligners.

The present invention obtains cost and time advantages over knowndevices. The cost of the invention is relatively low since only onevision sensor need be used to audit a wheel/tire. The time required toaudit a wheel/tire is relatively low since it is unnecessary to rotatethe wheel/tire in order to perform an audit.

The invention has utility in several contexts. It may be used on aproduction line as a part of the manufacturing process, or as an auditfor a production line, or elsewhere. Further, devices and methodsaccording to the present invention may be used in contexts other thanwheel alignment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device according to an embodiment ofthe present invention along with a wheel and tire.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the device according to theembodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is perspective schematic view of a vision sensor preferably usedin the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are schematic representations of the swept volumeof a camera vision sensor in relation to the position of a rim to becharacterized.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention within astation that allows for measurement of front and rear wheel alignment.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a depth profile a typical wheel/tire as seenby an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of a ramp system useful in an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan schematic view of an embodiment of the invention incombination with known wheel aligners.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In overview of an embodiment of the present invention, a vision sensorsuch as a laser camera is used to determine toe and camber of a vehiclewheel. The laser camera is rotated in a circle that lies in a plane thatis generally parallel to the plane of the wheel. The field of vision ofthe rotated sensor scribes a torus in space that is “seen” by thecamera. The wheel and sensor are positioned so that the wheel rim iswithin the torus so that the rim is seen by the camera. In this context,the camera sees the rim (or other object within the torus) as acollection of pixels, defined by the camera resolution, that each havean x-y-z coordinate or other coordinate system position such as polarcoordinates. In an embodiment, the camera takes “slices”, each sliceincluding the coordinates in space of a number of points (such as 96)taken along a line.

The angular position of the sensor as a function of time is measured andrecorded along with the x-y-z data seen as a function of time. Thesensor is engaged with a computer that stores the data. The computercalculates the plane of the rim (or other identifying tire/wheelfeature) based upon the observed data. The attitude of the plane of therim corresponds exactly to an identifiable toe and camber. Thus, thepresent invention provides a measurement of toe and camber using asingle vision sensor and without rotating the wheel. The invention alsoincludes additional aspects that are described below.

A device 10 embodying a broad aspect of the present invention is shownin perspective view along with a wheel (W) and tire (T) mounted on thewheel in FIG. 1, and in a front elevation view in FIG. 2.

The device 10 includes a base 12 and a vertical support 14 extendingupward from the base. A rotating blade 16 is pivotally connected to anupper section of the support 14 at a spindle 18. The spindle 18 isrotatable to a predefined speed by a motor 20. The motor 20 includes (oris engaged with) suitable equipment 22 for monitoring and recordingpositional data of the blade 16. This may be a rotary encoder, a rotarypotentiometer, a stepping moter, etc.

A vision sensor 30 is positioned toward one end of the blade 16. Acounterweight 24 is positioned toward the other end of the blade 16 sothat the blade 16 is balanced during rotation. While the above describedblade 16 structure is a preferred structure to rotate the vision sensor30, it will be appreciated that other means to rotate the vision sensorcould be employed. For example, the sensor could be mounted on acircular track, and slid around the track. Or, the sensor could bepositioned on the end of a rod that rotated in a circle.

A suitable vision sensor 30 is shown in FIG. 3. The vision sensor 30incorporates a digital camera capable of measuring by triangulation,such as a laser camera sold commercially as the “MDC-250” of Medar, Inc.(Farmington Hills, Mich.) into a housing 32. The sensor 30 has a laserwindow 34 through which a beam of coherent light is emitted to intersecta target, and a camera window 36 engaged with a camera offset from thelaser window 34. The laser window and camera window each have a field ofvision, which intersect with one another to form a resulting field ofview (F) for the sensor 30. Other vision sensors may be expected toperform similarly. It should be understood that the above vision sensorsare representative only, and that the present invention includes anyother machine vision device capable of imaging a volume of space anddetermining coordinates of a set of pixels within the space.

With reference again to FIG. 1, a wheel (W) (having a rim (R)) on whichtire (T) is mounted is positioned in front of the device 10. The wheel(W) is positioned so that the rim (R) is within the field of view ofsensor 30. Thus, a preferred distance for the above described sensor 30is about 436.5 mm, although the position is not critical so long as therim (R) is within the field of view (F). Most preferably, the plane ofthe wheel is parallel to the plane of rotation of the sensor. However,the device 10 can perform satisfactorily even if the wheel is at anangle to the plane of rotation of the sensor 30, provided that the angleis known and is within the operating specifications of the sensor.

The sensor 30 is rotated, via the motor 20, and the sensor 30 acquiresthe image data within its field of view (F) and stores the data withinthe computer 40. Via the equipment 22, the angular position of thesensor 30 is also determined and stored within the computer 40. Thus,the computer 40 stores a set of image data which is a collection ofspatial coordinates for each acquisition, that is referenced by theangular position of the sensor.

The computer 40 calculates the plane of the wheel (W) from the datastored within the computer 40. It is possible to determine the planeafter one complete revolution of the sensor 30 around the wheel (W), oreven before one complete revolution. Preferably, the means for rotatingthe vision sensor rotates the sensor at least one revolution. During therevolution, the sensor 30 collects data at a number of positions (i.e.,it takes a number of “shots” or “slices” of the wheel/tire). Forexample, to view the wheel/tire at every 10 degrees, 36 slices would betaken (which is 360 degrees/10 degrees).

The means for rotating the sensor could rotate the sensor multiple timesand the data could be averaged to provide statistically improved data.

From the plane of the wheel (W), the toe and camber of the wheel can bedetermined by known techniques. The computer can store, print, anddisplay the raw and calculated data as is known in the art.

It can be appreciated that the present invention allows for themeasurement of toe and camber of a wheel using only one sensor, andwithout rotating the wheel. It is noted that the measurements are notnecessarily absolute, because the wheel is not rotated and so the actualplane or trajectory of rotation is not determined. Stated another way,the “runout” of the wheel is not known. Surprisingly, however, this isnot a real problem so long as the wheels are relatively precise, such aseither new or machined aluminum or “mag” style wheels. The invention hasparticular, though not exclusive, utility as an audit machine formanufacturing processes, since the wheels of newly manufactured vehicleswill generally have negligible runout.

While the above embodiment has only one sensor 30, it will beappreciated that more than one sensor could be used, for example byreplacing the counterweight 24 with another sensor, and averaging theresults obtained by the two sensors. It will also be appreciated thatthe wheel could be rotated as the sensor revolves, provided that thewheel and sensor do not rotate in resonance with one another, so thatsensor can “see” an adequate number of points of the wheel (W).

Another surprising advantage of the present invention is that it is notnecessary for the center of the wheel (W) to be exactly aligned with thecenter of rotation of the sensor 30 (i.e., the spindle 18). This isunderstood with reference to FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C. FIG. 4A shows themotion of the sensor 30 as it is revolved and the resulting field ofvision (F). FIG. 4B shows the outlines of three rims R1, R2, R3 havingdiffering diameters that are centered in relation to the device 10. Itcan be appreciated that each of the rims are within the field of vision(F) and can thus be characterized. FIG. 4C shows the outlines of threerims R4, R5, and R6, having differing diameters that are not centered inrelation to the device 10. Depending upon the diameter-of the rim andthe degree of offset between the center of the rim and the device 10,enough of each rim may be within the field of vision (F) to characterizethe rim. It is not necessary for the entirety of the rim to be withinthe field of vision, as the rim may be characterized if only a portionof the rim is seen by the vision sensor 30.

The present invention provides for enhanced accuracy in thedetermination of wheel/tire characteristics, which can be understood inlight of the following discussion. The location of three points in spaceestablishes a plane. Thus, in an embodiment of the invention, only threepoints on the wheel are taken by taking image data at three separaterotational positions of the sensor 30 (in fact, this would provide morethan three points, as “slices” are taken. Conceptually, three pointswould be sufficient). However, any error in the determination of theactual position of one of the three points will cause an error in thedetermination of toe or camber. For example, a positional error of about0.001 inch will cause a toe or camber error of about 0.01 degree, whichis about the outer limit of acceptable tolerance in typicalapplications. In a preferred aspect of the present invention, multiplepoints are taken and the plane is determined by statistical computation.The accuracy of the calculated plane (and the toe and camber) can thusfar exceed the accuracy with which the position of any given point isdetermined. In general, it has been found that using the position ofeighteen slices on the wheel/tire provides near-maximum accuracy andthat using more slices is largely redundant. While the inventionincludes taking more or less than eighteen slices, eighteen is apreferred number, with the understanding that taking somewhat more orless may be functionally equivalent.

Yet another aspect of the invention is the ability to characterize thesidewall of the tire (T). This is done similarly as the determination ofthe toe and camber, except that tire (T), instead of the rim (R), ischaracterized. In this context, by “characterized” it is meant that theimaged data is analyzed to determine whether the tire has anyirregularities in its sidewalls. Such irregularities can be identifiedby asymmetrical portions of the tire (T). Because the present inventionhas utility to characterizing the combination of a wheel, a tire, or thecombination (as is usually the case), the expression “wheel/tire” isused herein to refer to either a wheel or a tire or both.

Another embodiment of the invention is described in connection with FIG.5, wherein like elements as in the above-described embodiment arecommonly numbered. The embodiment of FIG. 5 is for measuring thealignment of all four wheels, separately labeled LF, RF, LR, and RR of avehicle. The vehicle itself is omitted from FIG. 5 for clarity. Two tirealignment devices, labeled 10L and 10R, are used, each beingsubstantially similar to each other and to the above-described device10. The device 10L is used to characterize the LR and LF wheels. Thedevice 10R is used to characterize the RR and RF wheels.

The device 10L is positioned on a track 50L that extends between thepositions of the wheel LR and the wheel LF. The device 10R is positionedon a track 50R that extends between the positions of the wheel RR andthe wheel RF. The tracks 50L, 50R include a belt, chain, or similarmeans for sliding the respective units between the rear and frontpositions, and a motor or other suitable means for powering the slidingmeans.

In a first measuring step, the device 10L is positioned adjacent the LRwheel and the device 10R is positioned adjacent the RR wheel. Thecharacteristics of the LR wheel and the RR wheel are determined byrotating the vision sensors 30, as described above.

In a positioning step, the device 10L is positioned from the LR wheel tothe LF wheel by sliding along the track 50L, and the device 10R deviceis positioned from the RR wheel to the RF wheel by sliding along thetrack 50R.

In a second measuring step, the device 10L is positioned (in theabove-described positioning step) adjacent the LF wheel and the device10R is positioned adjacent the RF wheel. The characteristics of the LRwheel and the RR wheel are determined by rotating the vision sensors30L, 30R as described above. Thus, the alignment of four wheels can bemeasured using only two vision sensors 30, in a minimum amount of timerequired to position the devices 10L, 10R. Note that the sensor devices10L and 10R have been described as moving from the rear of a vehicle tothe front; it can be appreciated that the sensors could as well movefrom the front of a vehicle to the rear. Further, while both left andright sensing units are described, the invention could be practicedusing only one unit.

Preferably, the tracks 50L, 50R are controlled by control units 52L, 52Rrespectively (which may be combined into one physical unit). The controlunits position the units 10L and 10R so that the wheels can be properlyseen by the units (i.e, in the relative position as shown in FIG. 1).One aspect of the control units is finding the rims. One way of doing sois explained with reference to the representative data of FIG. 6, agraph (arbitrary units) showing the relative depth of a typical wheeland tire (on the y-axis) as a function of position (on the x-axis). Theposition is along the direction of movement of the devices 10L, 10R onthe tracks 50L, 50R, and the depth is perpendicularly away from thetracks. In the region I, the sensor 30 is seeing the center of thewheel, and the distance becomes less as the wheel widens towards therim. At point II, the rim is seen. Between points II and III, thedistance becomes greater, corresponding to the gap between the rim andthe tire. Between point III and region IV, the distance becomes less, asthe sensor sees the tire.

The point II can easily be detected by standard computer visiontechniques because of the sharp change in slope of the curve. Thus, thesensor can detect the rim of a wheel, and the control units 52L, 52R canposition the sensors with respect to the wheel (W) for takingmeasurements. It should be understood that other positioning techniquesmay be used instead of or in addition to the above described technique.

The control units 52L, 52R may include optional features, such asmulti-speed operation. The control units may move the devices 10L, 10Ralong the tracks 50L, 50R at certain speed along the length between therear wheels (LR, RR) and the front wheels (LF, RF), and moving thedevices 10L, 10R along the track at another (preferably slower) speed asthe sensors 30 are in the vicinity of the front wheels for takingmeasurements corresponding the data of FIG. 6. The devices aredetermined to be in the vicinity of the front wheels by imaginginformation and computer vision analysis similar to that described abovein connection with FIG. 6. Alternatively (or additionally), the devices10L, 10R can be programed with the wheelbase dimensions of the subjectvehicles and move that predefined distance. The measurement of FIG. 6can (but need not) be used to precisely position the devices 10L, 10R.

Another optional aspect of the invention is shown in FIG. 7. The tracks50L, 50R (designated generally as 50 in FIG. 7) are placed between arear ramp 52 and a front ramp 54. The tracks 50L, 50R are preferablydimensioned so that the rear wheels RL, RR can be situated adjacent therear ramp 52 while the front wheels LF, RF are situated adjacent thefront ramp 54. The ramps may assist in the positioning of the sensors30L, 30R with respect to the wheels.

Still another embodiment of the invention is described with reference tothe plan schematic view of FIG. 8. A vehicle (V) has a left frontwheel/tire LF, right front wheel/tire RF, left rear wheel/tire LR, andright rear wheel/tire RR. Associated with each wheel/tire is a wheelalignment detection device 10, according an above described embodiment.Also associated with each wheel/tire is a conventional wheel aligner 60.The conventional wheel aligner 60 may be any geometric aligner, anydynamic aligner, an aligner such as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,150,515, or otherwise. Such conventional aligners 60 are commonly usedin vehicle production assembly lines for the purpose of aligning thewheel/tire of a new vehicle. A major problem in vehicle production isensuring that the conventional aligners are operating properly, which istypically done by auditing a small percentage of the total vehicles thatare manufactured. Of course, sampling a small percentage can neverensure that the non-sampled vehicles are within specification. Theembodiment of FIG. 8 allows for a user to verify that the measurementsobtained by each device 10 agree with each device 60, and to investigateif not. It should be appreciated that it is not essential that eachdevice 10 of FIG. 8 be identical with each other device 10, or for eachdevice 60 of FIG. 8 to be identical with each other device 60, or forall four wheel/tires of FIG. 8 to be associated with a device 10 and adevice 60. Any subcombination could be used. A wheel alignment systemincluding a device 10 and a device 60 allows for the retention of theadvantages of known aligners, along with the benefit of the advantagesof the aligners of the present invention.

It should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited tovisualization performed strictly by rotating a vision sensor in acircular arc. The invention also encompasses rotating the vision sensorin a non-circular arc, such as for example, in a curve that isnon-circular. Also, it may not be necessary to rotate the sensor in acomplete revolution. Further, rotation (in any curve) can be combinedwith linearly translation of the sensor. An example of lineartranslation is provided in application Ser. No. 08/700,666. Thecombination of linear translation and curvilinear rotation as providedabove can be achieved, for example, by mounting a vision sensor on theend of a programmable robotic arm, such robotic arms being known in theart of robotics. For example, a sensor mounted on the end of a roboticarm may follow a path which roughly sweeps over an object to bevisualized, such as a chair. The sensor takes slices (images) as it isswept. The three-dimensional form of the chair can be reconstructed byconnecting points obtained in each slice with similar points in adjacentslice(es), thereby completing a model in space of the chair.

Any type of motion of the sensor is contemplated. For example, thesensor could rotate in a circle while simultaneously being translatedhorizontally. Such a pattern may be useful to determine the profile of aside of a car, and may be particularly useful if certain aspects of thecar profile are known a priori.

As used herein, each slice is a line in space consisting of a number ofpoints (such as 96 points in an embodiment), and the coordinate of eachpoint. Comparing features in adjacent slices (i.e., points and/orgroupings of points), and smoothing the slices to form a continuous ornear continuous image, allows for the image to be formed. The accuracyof the image is greater than the accuracy of the sensor in determiningthe coordinates of any individual points or slices, as the smoothedimage is the result of many points in many slices.

While the above descriptions of determining the camber and toe ofvehicle wheel/tires are an important aspect of the present invention,broader applications are also significant.

It can now be fully appreciated that the present invention teaches thedetermination of vehicle wheel camber and toe using a rotating visionsensor. The determination does not require (or preclude) the rotation ofthe vehicle wheels. Information about the structure of an object to bevisualized, such as a wheel/tire, can be used by the device to positionthe device and facilitate the process. It should be understood that theabove description is provided for the purposes of illustration ofembodiments of the invention and should not be construed to limit thescope of the invention. No component should be considered critical tothe practice of the invention unless that is specifically noted.Further, the invention could be combined with many other components orsystems. The scope of the invention should be determined by the claimsand their legal equivalents.

1. A device measuring alignment characteristics of a vehicle wheel/tire,comprising: a vision sensor having a field of vision and being capableof determining spatial coordinates of a group of pixels with the fieldof vision; the field of vision being sufficiently sized to detect aportion of vehicle wheel/tire to be characterized; means for rotatingthe vision sensor so that the vision sensor field of vision scribes atorus in space, whereby a collection of spatial coordinates of pixels isobtained at more than one position of the torus; and a computer forcalculating from the collection of spatial coordinates a wheel alignmentcharacteristic of the wheel/tire selected from the group of toe, camber,and both toe and camber.
 2. The device of claim 1, further comprisingmeans for determining angular position of the vision sensor as thevision sensor is rotated.
 3. The device of claim 1, including a verticalsupport and a blade having two ends rotatably mounted on the support,wherein the vision sensor is mounted toward one end of the blade.
 4. Thedevice of claim 3, wherein a counterweight is mounted toward the otherend of the blade.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the vision sensorcomprises a laser camera.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein the meansfor rotating the vision sensor is capable of rotating the vision sensorat least one complete revolution.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein themeans for rotating the vision sensor is capable of rotating the visionsensor a plurality of revolutions, and the vision sensor obtains pixelcoordinates for each of the plurality of revolutions.
 8. A method fordetermining alignment characteristics of vehicle wheel/tire, comprisingthe steps of: positioning a vision sensor having a field of vision andcapable of determining spatial coordinates of a group of pixels withinthe field of vision with respect to a wheel/tire to be characterized,such that at least a portion of the wheel/tire is within the sensorfield of vision; rotating the vision sensor with respect to thewheel/tire so that the vision sensor is positioned at more than oneangular position with respect to the wheel/tire; obtaining a collectionof spatial coordinates of pixels at more than one angular position ofthe vision sensor; and calculating from the collection of spatialcoordinates a wheel alignment characteristics selected from the group oftoe, camber, and both toe and camber.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe rotating step includes rotating the vision sensor at least onecomplete revolution.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the rotatingstep includes rotating the vision sensor more than one completerevolution.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of obtaining acollection of spatial coordinates of pixels at more than one angularposition of the camera is performed at about eighteen angular positionsof the camera.
 12. A device for measuring wheel alignment of the frontand rear wheel/tires of vehicle, comprising: a vision sensor having afield of vision and capable of determining spatial coordinates of agroup of points within the field of vision; means for rotating thevision sensor so that the vision sensor field of vision scribes a torusin space means for recording a collection of spatial coordinatesassociated with points from more than one position of the torus; acomputer to determine a wheel alignment characteristic based upon thecollection of spatial coordinates; and a track, slidably engaged withthe vision sensor to guide the vision sensor between a first positionand a second position, the first position corresponding to a firstwheel/tire of a vehicle to be characterized and the second positioncorresponding to a second wheel/tire to be characterized.
 13. The deviceof claim 12, further comprising means for sliding the vision sensor fromthe first position to the second position.
 14. The device of claim 13,further comprising a controller for controlling the sliding means. 15.The device of claim 14, wherein the controller causes the sliding meansto slide at variable speed along the track.
 16. The device of claim 15,wherein the sliding means slides at a slower speed at a position in thevicinity of the wheels than at a position further from the wheels. 17.The device of claim 16, wherein the controller determines the positionof the vision sensor with respect to at least one of the wheel/tires byinterpreting a collection of spatial coordinates corresponding to thewheel/tire.
 18. The device of claim 12, further comprising a ramp forpositioning at least one vehicle wheel/tire.
 19. The device of claim 12,further comprising an additional vision sensor, means for rotating thevision sensor, and track; whereby the vision sensor determines thecharacteristics of one set of a left front and rear vehicle wheel/tireset and a right front and rear vehicle wheel/tire set; and theadditional vision sensor determines the characteristics of the otherset.
 20. A method for measuring wheel alignment of the front and rearwheel/tires of vehicle, comprising the steps of: positioning a visionsensor with respect to one of the front and rear wheel/tires, the sensorhaving a field of vision and being capable of determining spatialcoordinates of a group of pixels within the field of vision, the visionsensor being engaged with means for rotating the vision sensor so thatthe vision sensor field of vision scribes a torus in space, whereby acollection of spatial coordinates of pixels is obtained at more than oneposition of the torus; calculating from the collection of spatialcoordinates a wheel alignment characteristics selected from the group oftoe, camber, and both toe and camber for the one of the front and rearwheel/tires; sliding the vision sensor along a track from a firstposition corresponding to the one of the vehicle front and rearwheel/tires to a second position corresponding to the other of thevehicle front and rear wheel/tires; and calculating from the collectionof spatial coordinates a wheel alignment characteristic selected fromthe group of toe, camber and both toe and camber for the other of thefront and rear wheel/tires.
 21. A wheel alignment system comprising: avision sensor having a field of vision and being capable of determiningspatial coordinates of a group of pixels within the field of vision, thefield of vision being sufficiently sized to detect a portion of vehiclewheel/tire to be characterized; means for rotating the vision sensor sothat the vision sensor field of vision scribes a torus in space; meansfor recording a collection of spatial coordinates associated with pointsfrom more than one position of the torus; a computer to calculate awheel alignment characteristic of the wheel/tire based upon thecollection of spatial coordinates; and an additional wheel alignmentdevice (60) to characterize the wheel/tire in a conventional manner. 22.The wheel alignment system of claim 21, further comprising a pluralityof vision sensors and associated means for rotating the plurality, and acorresponding plurality of additional wheel alignment devices (60) tocharacterize a plurality of wheel/tires in a conventional manner.
 23. Anapparatus comprising: a vision sensor capable of determining spatialcoordinates of a group of points with its field of vision, the field ofvision being sufficiently sized to contain a portion of a wheel/tire tobe characterized; a motor to rotate the vision sensor through aplurality of angular positions with respect to the wheel/tire so thatthe fields of vision associated with each of the plurality of angularpositions together form at least a portion of a torus in Euclideanspace; a positional recorder to collect spatial coordinates of aplurality of points from more than one position of the torus; and acomputer to determine one or more characteristics of the wheel/tirebased upon the collected spatial coordinates.
 24. The apparatus of claim23, wherein a characteristic of the one or more characteristics of thewheel/tire comprises an alignment characteristic of the wheel/tire. 25.The apparatus of claim 23, wherein a characteristic of the one or morecharacteristics of the wheel/tire comprises wheel/tire toe.
 26. Theapparatus of claim 23, wherein a characteristic of the one or morecharacteristics of the wheel/tire comprises wheel/tire camber.
 27. Theapparatus of claim 23, wherein a characteristic of the one or morecharacteristics of the wheel/tire indicates whether the wheel/tire hasany irregularities in its sidewall.
 28. A method comprising: obtainingspatial coordinates of a plurality of points on a wheel/tire to becharacterized by positioning a vision sensor at a plurality of angularoffsets relative to the wheel/tire, each of the plurality of pointscorresponding to a different one of the plurality of angular offsets;and determining one or more characteristics of the wheel/tire byperforming statistical computation based upon the spatial coordinates ofthe plurality of points.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein theplurality of points lie on a sidewall of the wheel/tire.
 30. The methodof claim 28, wherein the plurality of points lie on a rim of thewheel/tire.
 31. The method of claim 28, further comprising rotating thewheel/tire during said obtaining spatial coordinates.
 32. The method ofclaim 28, further comprising rotating the vision sensor during saidobtaining spatial coordinates.
 33. The method of claim 32, wherein saidrotating the vision sensor during said obtaining spatial coordinatescomprises rotating the vision sensor in a circular arc.
 34. The methodof claim 32, wherein said rotating the vision sensor during saidobtaining spatial coordinates comprises rotating the vision sensor in anon-circular arc.
 35. The method of claim 32, wherein said rotating thevision sensor during said obtaining spatial coordinates comprises acombination of linear translation and curvilinear rotation of the visionsensor.
 36. The method of claim 32, wherein said determining one or morecharacteristics is unaffected by the wheel/tire having negligiblerunout.
 37. The method of claim 32, further comprising positioning thevision sensor with respect to a second wheel/tire.
 38. The method ofclaim 32, wherein said positioning is based upon provided wheelbasedimensions.
 39. The method of claim 37, wherein said positioning isbased upon locating the rim of the second wheel/tire using computervision techniques.
 40. The method of claim 28, further comprisingmeasuring and recording an angular position of the vision sensorrelative to the wheel/tire as a function of time along with those of thespatial coordinates corresponding to the angular position.
 41. A methodfor determining alignment characteristics of vehicle wheel/tire, themethod comprising the steps of: a step for positioning a vision sensorwith respect to a wheel/tire to be characterized such that at least aportion of the wheel/tire is within a field of vision of the visionsensor, the vision sensor capable of determining spatial coordinates ofa group of points within the field of vision; a step for rotating thevision sensor through a plurality of angular positions with respect tothe wheel/tire; a step for obtaining a collection of spatial coordinatesof points associated with each of the plurality of angular positions;and a step for calculating one or more wheel alignment characteristicsof the wheel/tire based upon the collection of spatial coordinates. 42.The method of claim 8, wherein the rotating step includes rotating thevision sensor less than one complete revolution.